There are times when a person requires access to a computer remotely. A user may need to boot and/or login to the computer, to access data or applications. Alternatively, maintenance may need to be performed on the computer, but immediate physical access to the machine may not be possible. Under normal circumstances, a user may need to provide one or more boot passwords in order to allow the computer to boot securely, and may need to provide a login password in order to access the operating system (OS).
It may become problematic if the user needs to engage in such interactions remotely. Passwords would have to be transmitted to the computer; but to provide passwords over an open, public network (e.g., the Internet) is risky. The passwords may be readily compromised. If an unauthorized party obtains the passwords, he or she can then pose as an authorized user and access the machine.
In the drawings, the leftmost digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.